Blu-ray Review: DEEMO Memorial Keys

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

Turning videogames into feature films isn’t a new thing. Many of the more involving games feel like they have longer and deeper scripts than the movies produced today. The viewer is the director, actor and stuntperson while holding the controls. Their skills determine the running time as well as whether the experience has end credits. Many of these movies do their best to duplicate the game experience which is great for those of us who are notorious for screwing up and never getting past the first play scenario. Deemo is a very popular video game that mixes the keep up with the beat with a fantasy mystery. Deemo: Memorial Keys captures both elements as it animates the game.

Alice (Ayana Taketatsu) is a student at a music school who spends a lot of time by herself instead of classmates. She’s less anti-social and mostly caught inside herself, but eventually she finds herself falling into a strange world. Deemo is a creature with a bowtie inside a castle who mostly plays his special piano. He has a few magical friends that take care of his new guest including a nutcracker, a doll and a stuffed cat. When Alice sneaks onto Deemo’s piano, the notes cause a tree to grow nearby. As the music is played by her or Deemo, the tree begins gets larger. Alice can’t remember her past until the tree gives her back a few memories via petals. In the real world, two of her classmates are trying to figure out what’s happened to her. In the castle, Alice encounters a masked figure who has been stealing the music because she hates the piano. Alice fears that if she gets too many memories back, will she have to leave the castle and head back to school? Is Deemo going to let that happen?

Deemo: Memorial Keys does a fine job of bringing the musical tones of the game to the big screen. They don’t pump up the action to overwhelm viewers. We get the fantastical elements swirling out of the music. The story makes sense even if you don’t have a clue that the film is based on a videogame. You don’t get a sense of missing out on the mythology. It plays like a fantastical mystery with Alice and those she encounters in the castle. There’s even a Seinfeld reference in the dialogue which probably isn’t in the Japanese videogame. Deemo: Memorial Keys is a movie you can enjoy without feeling your thumb twitch to hit the A button.

The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The imagery looks divine. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 in both the original Japanese and English dub. The 5.1 mix gets the music bouncing around your room. There are also subtitles in both the original English and English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

DVD has the movie and bonus features.

60-Second Trailer (1:04) promises to adapt the movie from the popular video game.

90-Second Trailer (1:31) has the mystery unravel through music.

English Dub Promotional Video (2:41) is an extended trailer.

Promotional Video (2:41) is the same video in Japanese.

Shout! Factory and Eleven Arts present Deemo: Memorial Keys. Directed by Shūhei Matsushita. Screenplay by Junichi Fujisaku & Bun’Ō Fujisawa. Starring Ayana Taketatsu, Anairis Quiñones, Michelle Marie, Akari Nibu, Michelle Marie, Akari Kitō, Luci Christian, Ayane Sakura, Stephanie Sheh, Kōhei Matsushita & Bryce Papenbrook. Running Time: 89 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: March 28, 2023.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.